Happy Birthday

Ok.. so my mom has been talking for over a month about writing a "special" post for my birthday. Well.. she finally wrote it by late yesterday afternoon but with Young Women's last night I didn't have time to search for the pictures my mom wanted me to post along with this.

Anyway, My birthday is Sept 8th so I will back date to that day.. just play along ok? I didn't edit this in anyway so here we go...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGELA!!!! Sorry it is a day late!!!

I wanted to write a birthday tribute to my wonderful, beautiful, talented daughter. Too many adjectives?? Oh well. Your dad and I couldn't be more proud of the wonderful young woman you have become.

September 8, 197_ was one of the best days of my life. We welcomed a beautiful blond haired (actually she was bald but hey I think we could see the blond coming in!), blue eyed, 8lb. 3oz., 21 inches long — bundle of pure joy. She was the happiest and most contented baby I have ever seen. She slept through the night from day one. I told her she definitely spoiled us and didn’t prepare us for sleepless nights her other siblings made up for.

Before Ang was born her dad was so sure it was a boy. (This was before ultra sounds) What is it with men that they think they have to produce a male child?? My nephew asked Ron what he would do if it was a girl and he jokingly said he would flush her down the toilet. When my nephew heard that we had a girl he told his mom he needed to get to the hospital fast to save Angela. Not to worry, her dad fell in love with her at first sight and said that little girls were made for dad’s to protect and that is what he has been doing her whole life.

Angela was impatient to grow up. She began crawling at 6 months, walking at 9 months and speaking sentences at 10 months. Maybe it was just being the first child but she seemed to learn very fast. Needless to say she was an adult by the time she was a year old. Oh, did I mention she was potty trained sometime around 10 months?? (Thanks to her Grandma Weeks who tended her!) Angela was a very active child. But she was easy to discipline and followed rules pretty good. With one exception, she loved wearing her father’s shoes. You know the ones with the high heels; it was the 70’s remember!! She would clomp around in them all day if she could get away with it; her dad was very fussy with his possessions. If you know anything about Ron he is very meticulous of his things. He really didn’t like Ang wearing his shoes but it was so darn cute it was hard to keep her from doing it. So I took a picture.

Ang grew up to be a tomboy. She was very good in all sports. In our Smithfield, Utah neighborhood all the children would get together to play baseball in the field next door. One day I answered a knock on the door and one of the boys was standing there. He looked up at me and said, “Angela’s a tomboy huh?? She just knocked the baseball clear over into the next field! Girls aren’t supposed to hit like that. My sister says Angela can because she is a tomboy, is that right?” So began her life’s goal to be good at any sport she tried out for. In high school she played Tennis Singles and took 2nd in region. She also played softball and soccer.

Ang (age 12), Travis (age 9), Jamie (age 2).. Lance's (age 7) head on the far left!

I was able to be her Young Women’s leader. It was so much fun going to young women’s with her and teaching her the gospel. Camp was a lot of fun. Even though Angela loved to tease and pull pranks she always knew her boundaries and when she needed to be respectful and listen. She was always willing to do whatever her leaders asked her to do. She was a great leader and example for the other girls. I can honestly say she never pushed the button of the leaders once except for one small time at stake camp in Memphis Tennessee. I think she was a Mia Maid. Her and a friend asked the leaders if they could go pull a few harmless tricks to the other campers. We told them nothing destructive, like pulling down the tents, etc. and that they had to be back to camp by 11:00 PM. Were we cool leaders or what??? So Ang and Jennifer went out and came back right on time. Since we didn’t hear any screaming or other leaders yelling we thought they had been good and never caused any problems until the next morning . . . .!! We went to flag ceremony and all around the pool fence, (yes Memphis girls camp ground had flushing toilets, showers and a swimming pool, they really knew how to camp!!) Anyway, hung to the fence were bra’s everywhere!!! They had even climbed up the flag pole and hung a few on the top!! As the flag was raise so were the eyes of the stake leaders and they wanted to know who had done this. Jennifer’s mom was one of the stake leaders, she and I just looked at each other but never said a word. (yes, we were chicken!!!) We looked at Ang and Jen, that’s all it took; they started to go and gather up all the bra’s and return them to the girls. Angela knew how to have fun. She was always looking for ways to include the younger girls and making sure that camp was fun and willing to participate in the planned activities. For the most part she would follow the rules, be supportive and helpful.

Girls' camp Jenny, Ang (age 14), Hiedi, Shelby and Maridyn. We had so much fun at camp!

Angela has excelled in work as well as sports. She is very competitive and doesn’t like to lose which has been good for her brothers because they have learned it ok of a girl beats them! It was really good for her brother Lance who is just as competitive as she is. Angela has been a great older sister to her 2 brothers and one sister. She is so willing to always help and give advice which can sometimes annoy her siblings and so they remind her that they already have a mother. But she is such a good example for them, they love and respect her and appreciate her wisdom and her willingness to help them anyway she can.

Angela thanks for being such a great daughter. We are so proud of you and appreciate all that you do for us!

We love you and hope you have a wonderful day!!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Now just to clarify the Girls' camp prank... Jennifer and I were just taking care of our own. My mom forgot that the previous day the YCL's had raided all the new 1st year's bags in our ward and hung their bras on the flag pole that morning. Sooo Jennifer and I did the only sensible thing....we sought REVENGE! Ok.. so not one of my proudest moments but still a great memory! I never liked to see my mom disappointed in me so that day when she gave me the "look", I quickly obeyed.

Thanks Mom and Dad for the great memories! I couldn't have asked for better parents, thanks for all you do! I love you!